Ido Katri

Ido Katri, SJD candidate @UTlaw, @F_Trudeau_F scholar, documenting the rise of gender self-determination at the edge of the posthumanist era

Ido Katri is a Trudeau and Vanier doctorate scholar at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. His doctoral thesis is a legal ethnographic documenting the rise of gender self-determination at the edge of the post-humanist era. Ido's research follows the trans political and legal demands through the voices of community members fighting intersectional exclusion, connecting legal discourses of gender, race and nationality. Before coming to Toronto, Ido co-founded The Gila Project for Trans Empowerment, a grassroots action group and NGO, working to better the life chances of gender variant persons by emphasizing self-empowerment, exercising of legal rights, and demanding access to resources and opportunities under Israeli law. Ido also worked as Human rights litigant at Gisha- Center for Freedom of Movement, an NGO located in Tel-Aviv and devoted to securing the freedom of movement for residents of Gaza. Ido’s work has been cited by courts, and is published and forthcoming in law journals, legal literature and in a queer theory anthology.

The Ontario legislative assembly just unanimously passed The All Families Are Equal Act, a new family law that offers a more inclusive understanding of what makes 'family.' This much-anticipated legal reform marks a leap forward in Ontario's recognition of a broader range of families.

Freedom of speech does not only protect one's right to be offensive, it also protects individual and communities' right to express their diversity. By staging the debate, focusing on anti-trans and anti-black freedom of speech, the University of Toronto is inflaming the toxic environment its trans and racialized students are facing.